


The Ember Conspiracy

by Dieinafire33



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Earth, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Fire, Homosexuality, M/M, Magic, Other, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23690272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dieinafire33/pseuds/Dieinafire33
Summary: When a Fire Spirit goes rogue, Alex must travel to Earth to hunt him down and unravel a conspiracy of multidimensional proportions.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	The Ember Conspiracy

“Petrol.” Alex called out. A small flame floated in his hands. A soft voice rang out from the flame.

“What do you want?” The flame asked.

“What info do you have on the target?” Alex asked.

“The same info I gave you before. He’s probably taken on a Human host. Look for someone who can shoot fire out of their hands.” Petrol said.

Alex snuffed out the flame in his hands and blew on his palm to cool it off. 

He tapped his temple with two fingers, activating his heat sense in his new fleshy form.

“Let’s see where the heat’s building,” He mumbled to himself.

Alex had spent three weeks in a dead-end town looking for his target. The town was large enough that it could be anybody, but still small-town enough that everybody knew everybody and anyone could spot an outsider invading their ranks. 

A blessing and a curse for Alex, who had never spent time in a human body before.

Alex’s vision was washed over with a foamy red fluid. It pooled around one spot in his line of sight: the clocktower downtown. 

He snuck out of his hotel room and slunk down the stairs. 

“Heading into town?” The girl at the front desk asked.

“Yes, I am. I’ll be back tonight. If I’m not, send a search party.” 

“You got it.” The girl at the front desk said. 

Alex stepped through the revolving door and into his car outside.

Well, not exactly his.

Regardless of ownership, Alex started the car and began his drive into town. The largest heat signature outside of a home was in an alleyway, Alex could sense. It was a tight space, and there were several human body heat signatures around it.

“Petrol.” Alex called.

A faint flame appeared on the dashboard.

“Yeah?” The tiny flame asked.

“Can you tell me why I’m hunting this target?” Alex asked.

“Murder. He destroyed about six Dark Elves from Signis, in Plane 14.” Petrol said plainly.

“Signis? What was he doing there?” Alex asked, confused.

“No clue, Signis isn’t the most welcoming environment for a spirit dependent on heat. Apparently he just waltzed into their embassy and lit the place up. Signis isn’t accepting visitors from Hellfire anymore.” Petrol explained.

“That’s a damn shame. What’s the king doing about the political situation?” Alex asked.

“Promising the head of the killer. That’s where you come in.” Petrol said.

“That makes sense. I’m getting close to a large heat signature in town here.” Alex said.

“Keep me posted.” Petrol said as he vanished.

Alex pulled in front of the local brewery and stepped out of the car. He reached his hand out, feeling for the slightest inconsistency in heat. 

_ Bingo. _

He fixed his collar and sauntered toward an alleyway behind the brewery. Following the trail of remnants of heat, he turned a corner.

Ten teenagers sat around a blazing dumpster, cheering and knocking back cans of lite beer. 

Alex hid his hands in his pockets as he waltzed up to the crowd.

“What do we have here, kids?” He called out. Three of the teens dropped their drinks and ran past the dumpster, disappearing into the alleyways.

“What do you want?” The largest of the teens asked. He passively flexed his biceps at Alex as a form of intimidation. 

Didn’t work, but a good try.

Alex ran his hands through his hair.

“You know, just curious why a bunch of punk tenagers are lighting garbage on fire at eight in the evening.” Alex said snarkily.

“I don’t think that’s your business.” The large teen said.

“Seriously? You think this isn’t my business? Try again, kid.” Alex said.

The teen picked a broken bottle off of the ground and hurled it at Alex.

The bottle exploded in a blaze that blasted shards back into the teen’s face. Blood ran down his cheeks and onto his collar.

“Nice try.” Alex said. He turned to the other teens. He took his hands out of his pockets and summoned a fireball. 

“Scatter!” He shouted as he blasted the fireball into the air, illuminating the area around them. The teenagers did as they were told, skittering away like scared rats in the back alleys. 

Alex shot forward at blinding speed and gripped the largest teen’s wrist. Slowly applying heat, he squeezed and heard the teen’s joints crack.

“Let me go!” He shouted.

“Nope,” Alex said, “not until you answer a question for me. Know anybody in your group of hooligans that’s become obsessed with fire in the last few weeks? Maybe a little  _ too  _ obsessed?” 

The teen furrowed his brow as he squirmed.

“I don’t know man, just let me go!” He shouted.

His wrist was starting to heat up.

“You could have just said no. Now I know you know something.” Alex said with a grin.

“Listen, I’ve got a buddy. He’s about your age, goes by the name Joker. He wants to burn down the clocktower, I can give you his address! Just let me go!” The teen shouted. His arm was starting to burn.

“There we go, that’s the cooperation I wanted. What’s the address?” Alex asked.

“1010 West Fifth!” The teen yelled. He broke free of Alex’s grip and vanished into the alleyway, leaving Alex alone with a still-burning dumpster.

Alex sighed.

“Petrol?” He groaned.

“You got the info you need?” Petrol asked.

“Yep. I also have a burning dumpster. Am I free to use offensive flame control to put it out and prevent damage to the local community?” Alex asked.

“Offensive fire control privileges are green, go to town.” Petrol said.

Alex reached out to the burning dumpster. Tendrils of flame curled around his flesh and flowed like water into his skin. 

“That’s it, that’s a good feeling. I hate human forms.” Alex said.

“Yeah, I get that. Try being in a child’s form, that was a rough mission for me.” Petrol said.

“I’ll keep you updated, I’m going to turn in for the night and pursue the potential target in the morning.” Alex told Petrol.

“Good plan, agent. I’ll talk to you in a little while.” Petrol said as his flame went out.

Alex stepped back into his car and made his way back to the hotel. 

“Fun night in town?” The front-desk girl asked.

“You could say that. I’ll probably be checking out in the next day or two. I go where the work goes, you know?” Alex said. He didn’t bother to hear the girl’s response. He made his way up the stairs slowly and unbuttoned his shirt. He threw open the door to his hotel room and shut it behind him, throwing his shirt off. He leapt onto the bed and stretched out.

The soft moonlight beaming through the window lulled Alex to sleep. 

Dreaming as a spirit in a human body was complicated. On one side, the human brain attempts to dream as the human inhabiting the body would; with human desires like sex and food and blood. 

On the other side, the Flame Spirit overriding the human’s soul never truly slept, constantly in a combustion-like state that fueled the Flame Spirit all hours of every day. 

Alex, personally, liked to let his flame die out every so slightly, so as to experience the human dreams and desires. This particular night’s dream was of the front-desk girl providing a more special service to Alex’s human form.

_ Disgusting _ , he thought. Yet a morbid curiosity kept him delving further and further into the dreams of his human host.

A gleaming, glittering beam of sunlight made its way through Alex’s window and shone in his eyes. They fluttered open gently, pulling Alex out of his host’s uncomfortable dreams. 

Alex groaned as he rolled out of bed and onto the floor with a heavy thud. He stood up and stretched, a cramp in his back ruining the otherwise satisfying wake-up process. 

“Good morning, Petrol.” Alex called out. A candle on the end table lit and the soft, familiar voice called out as it always did.

“Good morning, Alex.” Petrol said sweetly.

“Today’s the day I’m going to get the target. Anything I should be worried about?” Alex asked.

“I checked with the commander, weapons are free. You have permission to kill the target and its host form. However, if you could remove the target from the host, that would make this much less of a mess.” Petrol explained.

“I’ll do my best. I’ll see you back home once my mission is over. We could grab lunch, if you want.” Alex offered.

“I’d like that. Good luck, Alex.” Petrol said.

The house was gone. 1010 West Fifth, burned to the ashes. Nothing left but the foundation. In the center of the ashes sat a young man, his legs crossed. 

“Ignis Helios Julius?” Alex called. The young man didn’t show any signs of life, like a statue.

“I have reason to believe you are the Flame Spirit known as Ignis Helios Julius. Respond, or I will have to use force.” Alex shouted. The young man’s eyes snapped open. They were burning like the sun, a swirling inferno of power.

“Go away, hunter. You don’t want to get involved in my business.” Ignis said.

“I’m afraid I have to. You are to face execution for the murder of six Dark Elves-”

“I’m well aware of what you believe happened. However, you’re about to have much more pressing matters on your hands.” Ignis shouted.

A metallic scream rang through the empty lot as a portal split open behind Ignis. A dark elf, tall with glowing blue eyes, stepped out of the portal before it snapped shut like the jaws of a monster. 

Ignis leapt away from the elf and sprinted out of the lot and down the road.

The elf approached Alex and bared his gigantic, sharp teeth.

“Come no further, elf! I am an agent of the Flame Spirits, investigating a crime against your people!” Alex shouted. He summoned large balls of flame and juggled them between his palms. 

“Shut up.” The elf said in its rough voice. He grabbed Alex by the head and punched him in the stomach, sending him spiraling to the ground.

Fireballs collided with dark flesh and filled the air with smoke. Before he could throw another punch, the dark elf was immersed in a pillar of fire. 

The elf screamed in agony as skin melted and sinew singed and tore. His eyes shriveled into his head and his scalp slid off, slick with blood and sweat. 

Sweat dripped down Alex’s forehead as he finished the elf off, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ash,

“Petrol.” He called out, heaving a heavy sigh.

“Alex, what have you done?” Petrol shouted. 

“He attacked me first. Ignis got away, I have to go-”

“You’re going to be thrown into The Arctic. I’ll never get to see you again.” Petrol raved.

“Only if I get caught. Keep this quiet for now, Petrol. Once I catch Ignis, I’ll be fine.” Alex said to Petrol to calm him down.

Alex spun on his heel and activated his heat sense.

A glowing heat signature leading up the road and right at the intersection.

A trail.

Alex climbed back into his car and started the engine.

Or at least he tried to start the engine.

“Petrol, my engine won’t start.” He said.

“Can’t help you there, Alex.” Petrol said.

“I can’t match the speed in this human form, he’s out of shape.” Alex complained.

“Then ditch it.” Petrol said bluntly.

“And risk getting seen?” Alex asked.

“Wherever Ignis is, he’s probably going to ditch his form and find a new one. Just glow bright so nobody can make out your proper form and they’ll think it was a trick of the light. You can only fight fire with fire.” Petrol proposed.

Alex sighed.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

Alex stepped out of his car and dug his fingernails into his chest. Groaning, he vomited and was propelled out of his human form. 

A shiny glowing god. An incorporeal dream made of pure energy. Spirit and flame born into one perfect being.

A Flame Spirit. 

Alex shot into the sky, hovering above his previous form. 

The body he occupied was now unconscious on the ground. He’d wake up in a few hours with a mild headache and no recollection of how he got there. 

Alex’s vision was no longer limited by human eyes. He had full sense of what was near him in every direction up to nearly 100 feet. His control of heat was now in its most pure and powerful form. Alex could easily destroy every home within one mile.

But he wouldn’t.

Alex flew through the sky with the speed of a supersonic jet, checking every nook and cranny for Ignis.

And there he was, in the same form.

Alex swooped down in front of him, summoning fireballs to orbit his body.

“Stop!” He commanded in his booming, dark voice. 

Ignis froze in his tracks.

“What are you doing outside of a body, you fool? Do you not know this planet has no knowledge of us yet?” Ignis said with venom in his voice.

“What are you doing running away from justice?” Alex taunted.

“Shut up, you pompous freak. You don’t know anything of what is going on.” Ignis hissed.

“Do enlighten me.” Alex commanded.

“The dark elves are planning to enlighten this planet. They’ve joined a league of several other worlds that want to enlighten this entire world for the sake of taking the human’s bodies. Easily possessable, highly customizable, hard to break. They’re perfect slave forms.” Ignis explained.

Alex recalled his fireballs.

“Is that why you attacked the embassy on Signis?” Alex asked.

“I needed to create a problem for the dark elves so that they would delay their plans, but I don’t think it worked. We have six hours in this world until they open the portals. You need to get back in a human form before you’re caught.” Ignis said.

Alex was skeptical. “Why should I believe you?” He asked.

“Because you were just attacked by a dark elf with no explainable reason, and I just explained it,” Ignis said. “Now get back in your body, I’ll meet you back at the burned lot.”

Alex’s form flashed before racing through the sky and crashing back into the unconscious human in front of the burned lot.

The car purred quietly as Ignis slid into the passenger side. 

“So, who all is planning to invade this Earth?” Alex asked.

“I’m not entirely sure. The Dark Elves of Signis, along with the Ice Spirits from Judalius and the Winged Humans from Horace are all I know of.” Ignis explained.

“That’s quite the unusual force. Ice Spirits could already be among us, we should do a search for anywhere with unusually low heat. Horace humans could be able to fold their wings and hide them under bulky enough clothes, but Dark Elves definitely couldn’t blend it.” Alex said.

“So we hunting down some Ice Spirits?” Ignis asked.

“Not hunting, searching. Let’s try and keep casualties to a minimum.” Alex corrected him. 

“I’ve got something. Downtown, behind the antique store. A big patch of only ten degrees.” Ignis said.

“Good.” Alex said as he shifted the car into drive. “Petrol!” He called loudly. The familiar tiny flame appeared on the dashboard. 

“You’re insane!” Petrol shouted.

“Report all information I’ve gathered back to central, with my assurance. I’m willing to put my job on the line for this, check for any large portal rituals on Horace, Judalius, and Signis. Earth might be invaded.” Alex ordered.

Five hours left.

The antique store was closed on Sundays. Alex and Ignis stepped into the alleyway on the right of it and snuck behind the building. An old warehouse sat seemingly abandoned. The large garage door was frosted over, with solid ice sealing the edges shut.

“Yep. We’ve got ice spirits. What’s the plan?” Ignis asked.

“Let’s melt the seals off the door and throw it open. You summon some fireballs to pressure them, I’ll ask the questions. Weapons cold until I give the order, got it?” Alex ordered.

Ignis nodded and the two approached the door. Alex ran his fingertips along the sealed edges, melting the rock-solid ice. Alex hooked his foot in the door handle and kicked upward, crunching the door like tin foil.

Fifteen humans huddled in a circle, a portal open in the center of them.

“Hands up, Hellfire Force!” Alex shouted. 

The humans leapt to their feet and took fighting stances. The portal in the center of them flickered and snapped shut with a loud crack.

“You are charged with conspiracy against a protected realm, come quietly!” Alex yelled. 

All fifteen humans dug their nails into their chests and vomited. Fifteen Ice Spirits blasted out of their bodies, crashing into Ignis and forcing their way into his body.

“Alex! This isn’t very good!” Ignis shouted. His skin turned black and his eyes began to glow a frosty blue, emitting bright beams of light like spotlights. 

Ignis’ spirit was thrown out of his body and onto the ground. His glow was dim, barely burning.

His body, Joker, bulged with an inhuman energy. His fingernails grew into icicles and his hair stood on its ends. His bones cracked as his muscle expanded and he grew to be nearly ten feet tall. 

“Ignis, get up! I could use some help!” Alex shouted. He threw a punch. It was caught and his hand broken instantly. Alex was thrown into the warehouse wall with a solid crunch.

Ignis screamed in his natural voice; deep, metallic, airy, “You ugly frozen motherfuckers, I’m going to kill you!” His form began to glow a furious white, outshining the sun. He crashed into the ice monster in human skin, sending it back a few feet.

Fireballs clashed with icicles and soul battled soul over control of Joker’s now mutilated form.

Alex pulled himself off of the ground and backed away from the battle.

“Petrol.” He whispered.

The tiny flame appeared in his hands.

“You’re in deep shit here. Need some help?” Petrol offered.

“Please. Give me something good, anti-possession preferably.” Alex pleaded.

A portal ripped open with a metallic screech overhead. A pillar of flame blasted out of the portal and twisted through the air, crashing into Joker’s body. 

Sixteen spirits were ripped out of the body. The Ice Spirits were bound to the ground with burning shackles and dragged into the portal. It silently snapped shut above Alex.

“Good enough for you?” Petrol taunted.

“Yeah, thanks. I owe you one.” Alex said.

“You owe me a lot more than that. Good luck.” Petrol said as his flame went out.

Ignis, now back in Joker’s body, heaved and vomited blood onto the ground.

“God, they fucked this guy up.” He said. 

“You think he’ll survive?” Alex asked.

“I’ll see if I can speed up the repair process to make sure, but yeah, he’ll live,” Ignis said. “That took about an hour, we’ve got four hours left. What’s the game plan?” 

Alex sighed.

“I don’t know, Ignis. I really have no clue. There’s no news from back home yet, I doubt any of the higher-ups believed me. We might just have to let this happen.” He said.

“Just let it happen? This is going to throw this world into chaos!” Ignis yelled.

“We already have! Fire Spirits have been possessing innocent humans for decades in the pursuit of ‘protecting them’ but are we any better than the Dark Elves? Or the Ice Spirits? Or the Horace humans?” Alex proposed.

“Of course we are! We don’t want to enslave them!” Ignis said.

“Then tell me, the fuck are you doing? How are you talking right now? Did you not take a body by force for your own purpose?”Alex asked.

“That’s different!” Ignis shouted.

“It’s not! It truly is not any different!” Alex shouted louder.

“Let’s just go burn down the goddamn clocktower!” Ignis screamed.

His scream echoed for what felt like hours.

“Why would we burn down the clocktower?” Alex asked.

“In order to get a secure connection for three large portals, they had me plant a receiver inside the tip of the clocktower.” Ignis said.

“You worked for them?”

“Yes.”

“You’re insane. Why not just go get the receiver?”

“If we take it down here, that’ll just open the portals closer to the ground and scatter them more than they would like. However, if we surround it in mass amounts of heat, the transmission may not be able to be made and we’ll have more time until they get here.”

“Won’t that disrupt the native humans?”

“Fires happen all the time here. They will be none the wiser to what we did.”

Alex sat on the ground and laid down. He let out a long sigh and put his hands over his face.

“Fine. Trip their fire alarm and then light the place up as hard as you can. It’s our only option.”

Alex sat inside the previously frozen warehouse scorching drawings into the floor.

“Petrol?”

The tiny flame appeared on the tip of Alex’s finger.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing by letting Ignis burn down the clocktower?”

“I think so, yeah. It seems like our only option to keep this planet docile. Or at least, that’s what Ignis would want us to think.”

“What?”

“I’m just saying, weren’t you onto something earlier? Don’t you think that we might be the bad guys too?”

“What are you saying, Petrol?”

“I’m saying this: why would Ignis attack the embassy on Signis while he was working for the dark elves? The timeline doesn’t line up, unless he never was working for the dark elves. He was working for us the whole time.  _ We  _ are the invaders, along with the dark elves, Horus humans, and ice spirits.”

“Holy shit, Petrol! What do we do?” Alex exclaimed.

“We have to stop the clocktower from burning down. It’s probably an activator for the portals.” Petrol explained.

“ _ We? _ Don’t tell me.” Alex said with a grin.

A portal tore open above him. A gigantic human-shaped metal suit crawled out of the portal, a tiny flame where the head should be. 

“Ta-da!” Petrol said, waving his gigantic metal arms.

“That’s a new suit, right?”

“You bet. It’ll let me save a human without burning them or having to possess another human.” Petrol explained.

Petrol picked Alex up and held him above his head.

“Use some bursts and brace for impact, I’m sending you straight in! I’ll keep watch if a portal opens!” Petrol shouted. Alex couldn’t respond before he was soaring through the air. 

Alex crashed through the highest window and barreled to the floor. Quickly recovering, he tackled Ignis to the ground and kicked him in the teeth.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ignis shouted. He kicked Alex off of him and into the wall.

“Stopping you, stopping all of it.” Alex said through gritted teeth. He stuck his head out the window to see a large, bumbling Petrol trying to calm down a crowd of humans.

“Petrol! Catch!” Alex shouted as he jumped out of the window. He ejected his spirit backward, letting his body fly to the ground and into Petrol’s metallic arms. 

“We’re really doing this here and now? You’re willing to betray your king for some puny slave planet?” Ignis taunted before being met with a white-hot fist to the stomach. Ignis left his body and clashed with Alex, neither of them gaining ground over the other.

“You’re already too late, Alex! The process has already started!” Ignis yelled.

Alex punched Ignis in the core and squeezed, bringing him to his knees.

“Dirty move for someone on the force,” He managed to squeak out.

A swift uppercut and a kick to Alex’s chest and Ignis was back on his feet.

“Too little too late.” Ignis said as he snapped his fingers. The entire room was filled with fire all the way down to the first floor. Screams could be heard from outside as metallic screeching filled the skies. 

Alex leapt out the window and landed in Petrol’s arms. He looked up to see hundreds of portals tearing open, forming a large dome of interplanar travel. 

“We’re in too deep, aren’t we?” Alex asked Petrol. Petrol’s head hung low.

“I think so. Any final acts of defiance before we inevitably turn ourselves in?”

Ignis landed behind them.

“You don’t have the willpower.”

Alex tore himself away from Petrol and kicked Ignis in the stomach.

“We only see dark elves and Horus humans so far, right?” Alex asked Petrol.

“Right.” Petrol responded.

“I’ll show his ass some willpower. Petrol, I may not be able to take you to lunch like I wanted.” 

“What are you planning?” Petrol asked. 

“I’m about to stretch myself a little too thin.” Alex said.

Alex stretched his arms out towards the hundred or so scared humans, mumbling to himself incoherently. In a flash, he was gone, inside the body of every one of his targets at the same time. One hundred voices rang out in unison, “People of Earth. Magic is willpower manifested, a true way to achieve your will. Manifest your willpower as I have, and defend yourselves against these otherworldly invaders, or become their slaves!” They shouted. Alex pulled himself back together, barely a dull glow at that point. He collapsed, out of energy and stretched too thin. 

Alex drifted down the sidewalk inside of a cold metal suit. He stopped and turned into a coffee shop, his metallic feed dragging on the carpet. A small flame piloted a similar suit in the back of the shop.

“You made it. I’m glad to see you’re at least glowing again.” Petrol said.

Alex sat down in the chair, his metallic posterior clanking against it.

“I hold up to my promises, and I promised you lunch. How is the world dealing with the whole magic thing?” Alex asked.

“There’s a lot of confusion, a lot of fear, but there’s already a large amount of healers among the people. The United States has declared a ban on foreign creatures that’s punishable by death, and all foreign creatures have to leave by the end of the week.”

“Where do you want to go?” Alex asked Petrol.

“Anywhere you are.”


End file.
